Bone fixator can be manufactured anywhere with conventional manufacturing techniques
Researchers at Imperial College have developed an external fixator, a low-cost, easy-to-manufacture stabiliser for broken bones to help in regions where such devices are expensive or scarce.
The external fixator holds broken bones in place with metal pins or screws attached to a surrounding metal frame. The advance is detailed in Frontiers in Medical Technology.
When soft tissue is severely damaged together with bone, external fixators are the first step in keeping fractures in legs and arms in place before an operation to fix the bones can be carried out.
However, their cost and low availability in many regions mean people resort to homemade or low-quality fixators that may lead to serious complications or improper healing.
The Imperial external fixator is currently being tested in Gaza and Sri Lanka, and since the invasion of Ukraine, more than 500 fixators have been manufactured in Poland to help with the crisis.
This fixator is low-cost, lightweight design that can be manufactured locally to international standards. The team developed the design and a toolkit to allow repeated precise manufacture of the fixator anywhere globally.
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